carbon

There are only a few Windows 8 laptops in production that we can consider to be the ‘high end’, machines with exacting build quality and specifications to match. While many PC makers are content to push out hum drum machines with middling specs and so so performance the same cannot be said for Lenovo and their ThinkPad range. Over the years their quality and reliability have become legend amongst the most demanding of laptop buyers.

The ThinkPad X1 comes in a body woven from Carbon fibre in a style similar to that of the current crop of Ultrabooks. Lenovo seems keen on finally shunting the look of their machines forwards and have recently adopted Chicklet keyboards and of course the wedge shape body design we have all come to recognize of late. I’ll be kicking the tires on the X1 to see how well Lenovo have melded the heritage of ThinkPad with the modern styling of an Ultrabook.

Say what you will about Twitter clients, but the developers behind them can be a finicky bunch from our experience. That notion is being reinforced again today with the announcement that Carbon has been pulled from the Windows Phone Store for good.

The team behind Carbon for Windows Phone, the popular Twitter client which was born on webOS, has just released version 1.3 and the update has gone live on the Marketplace. This latest version is quite the update for those who were seeking landscape tweet composition, something our own Daniel Rubino also requested.

As well as the above feature, and numerous bug fixes and enhancements, the following is included in v1.3:

Timeline Filters/Mute for Users, Hashtags, and Services such as Foursquare, Getglue, etc…

Further Timeline scrolling & general performance enhancements

Read Later Enhancements: tap+hold on URLs in Tweet screen to save for reading later

Mark all Messages as Read by tap+hold on “.messages” pivot.

Saving to Instapaper & Read It Later now adds tweet details to saved URLs

Detect Images from URLs ending with .jpg .png .gif

Enhanced error handling with error messages along with option to Report Errors back to us

Added retweets to Lists timeline

Support for Japanese & Korean typefaces

You can download Carbon from the Marketplace for $1.99 with a free trial available.

This week we've been joined by Saleh Esmaeili and Nadeem Mardini from dots and lines, a small developer firm based out of the United Arab Emirates who are responsible for the Twitter client Carbon. We've managed to get an insight into how they view the development environment of Windows Phone, as well as a sneak peek at what's next planned for Carbon.

Carbon version 1.2 is now live on the Marketplace after being submitted twelve days prior. We covered what's new in this update previously, which includes video preview (on the timeline) and a new quote screen gesture (tap on a tweet with two fingers). As well as improvements made to the app (speed, performance, etc.), the team has also introduced a trial mode that wasn't present in v1.1 - this trial has limited functionality but sports no advertising.

What else has been patched in version 1.2? Check out the bug fixes and changes below:

Read It Later bug that failed to save links to Read It Later service

Timeline context menu bug

Camera share bug that did not select pictures from Pictures hub

Broken image upload

List Timelines on Quickline Bug where it didn’t load older Tweets when tapping on “More”

Minor changes & bug fixes with Live Tiles

Default Image service changed to Twitpic instead of Twitter(to be reverted back soon)

We detailed the Carbon v1.1 launch this past weekend and one thing is for sure, you folks really like this Twitter client. Here in the US, the app is now #2 under the Social category and it's rocking 4.5 stars which is pretty slamming for an initial release.

It was noted that in the coming days, v1.2 would be released bringing trial-support and numerous other enhancements. Now we're getting a taste of that as the developers have posted a new video showing off their new "quote gesture".

We always highlight "smart" things around here at WPCentral and this quote/reTweet gesture is quite brilliant. We have a feeling that Carbon will have a very successful future on this platform with these kinds of additions.

Now, we're pleased to tell you that not only did it pass but it is now available. The app fetches for $1.99 and it is certainly one of the nicest Twitter apps on our platform. What's even better is the developers ended up submitting version 1.1 of the app, bringing even more functionality to the mix including the uber cool "inline images in your timeline". That feature means that if there is a pic attached to the Tweet, you can (optionally) have it show up as your scrolling through, giving you a quick-peek at the content.

In addition, you have TwitLonger support, font size control, everything is pinnable, background updates, read-it-later options and more, making this chock full of features.

We've been running v1.1 for the last few days and are very impressed with it. For those of you who are Metro-crazy, this is certainly your Twitter app as it has a very minimalist/font-centric UI design. Plus it has multiple account support which is something we need around these parts, so with that, we give Carbon a big thumbs up for Windows Phone.

We'd also like to announce that version 1.2 should be out within the next few days which features some scrolling tweaks as well as "trial" support, so hang tight if you don't want to purchase right away (though we think it's worth it).

Pick up Carbon here in the Marketplace for $1.99 and let us know in comments what you think. Check our early-video preview after the break.(Thanks for the heads up, Derek B.!)

If you've followed webOS at all, you'll know of a very popular Twitter client on that platform called Carbon. The developers of that spectacular app have ported it over to Windows Phone, now called CarbonWP, and it's nearly ready for release to the Marketplace. Actually, to say this is a port is not correct as the devs have taken months to work on taking advantage of all of Mango's abilities and really make this a Metro-Twitter app. We've seen it grow from early alpha-release to today and it's been a fun ride.

We've got our hands on the release candidate (RC1) and take it for a spin. Our thoughts? It's good, damn good. These guys are coming out swinging on v1.0 with a full-featured client that is exceptionally smooth and offers a lot of desired functionality, especially if you have multiple accounts. It's fast, fluid and smart. Will it be for everyone? Nope. Twitter clients are very personal choices, but we like what we see from these guys.

Peep after the break for the full list of features, watch the video to see it in action and gander at the pics to get an idea if this is something you'll want when released. We think it'll be a hit in the Marketplace. You?